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Inside the Tornillo 'Tent City' Housing Migrant Children

11 PHOTOS

Jun 26, 2018

The federal government has released new photos and videos of a tent city in Tornillo, Texas, housing migrant children who were moved from other facilities to make room for other "tender age" children. Reporters were allowed to tour the Tornillo facility on Monday for two hours, where they saw 326 children, 14 of whom were girls. Of the 326 unaccompanied children, 23 were, and remain, separated from their families.

Photojournalists have yet to be allowed to tour the facilities. Reporters were not allowed to take photos, film, nor ask the children questions during their tour.

One emergency manager for the BCFS, the nonprofit organization contracted to run the facility for 30 days, blamed the separations for the facility's existence.

"This shelter would not have been necessary without the separations. The crisis was a result of the decision to separate the kids. The separations should have never happened," said the employee, who declined give his name out of concern for his safety. "The process is flawed and it harmed the children. I would like to never do this mission again."